Old Broadbrim Into the Heart of Australia / or, A Strange Bargain and Its Consequences

by St. George Rathborne

In the saddle, as he settled himself as if for a dash, he turned to his captor and said:

"Do you hope to take me out of Australia?"

"What did I track you across the sea for, if I don't intend to hand you over to American justice?"

The lips of the doomed man met, and his eyes glanced over the long stretch of starlit barren that lay ahead.

It did not take Old Broadbrim and Waters long to secure their captive in the saddle, and then, with a last look at the dark structure a few feet away, they gathered up the reins.

"You got out, I see," observed Merle, for the first time addressing Dick.

"Yes; the dungeon, strong as it was, did not hold me long. The fire gave me a good fright, and for a time I thought all was lost, but help came."

"Help? I thought so. You could not have escaped without it."

There was no reply.